Texas Elected Officials Refuse Breathilizers

Austin, TX – Public records examined by the Austin American-Statesman show that most elected officials who have been stopped on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in recent years have declined to consent to a blood or breath sample.

The newspaper reported yesterday that it turned up cases involving more than a dozen elected officials in Texas _ including representatives, senators, judges and commissioners _ in which police on the scene asked for a sample to determine whether the driver's blood-alcohol concentration exceeded the 0.08 legal limit.

Except for two cases, both of which occurred outside the state, the politicians refused, the paper reported.